Business Travelers Up, Conventioneers Down at New Orleans Airport

More business travelers and fewer convention travelers are using Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, a survey of airport traffic found.

About 37 percent of passengers who boarded a flight at the airport late last year were business travelers, compared with about 22 percent during the same period of 2003, the most recent year the study was previously completed. Meanwhile, conference travelers, who made up 22 percent of the travelers using the airport in 2003, plummeted to just 6 percent last year.

The results of the study, by Chicago-based consulting firm Unison Maximus and commissioned by the airport, were presented to the New Orleans Aviation Board in February and were released to the public Monday.

Based on the survey, the consulting firm estimated that nearly 900,000 fewer convention travelers boarded planes leaving the airport in 2006. About 335,000 more business travelers flew out of Louis Armstrong, the study reported. Meanwhile, there were negligible changes in the number of people traveling for business and pleasure, only pleasure, and personal reasons: The percentage flying for personal reasons declined slightly, while the others rose.

The findings are not surprising, given that convention bookings have fallen for several years and are down since Katrina. The increase in business travelers is likely tied to the recovery effort.

Because a larger number of the passengers were business travelers, they spent less time at the airport. Nearly half of the passengers spent less than 1 1/2 hours at the airport, the survey found. That's up from 32 percent in 2003, when there were more convention travelers who generally spent more time in the airport.

Despite the shorter dwell times, slightly more passengers shopped at the airport's retail shops and restaurants than in 2003 -- better than the national average.

The survey also found fewer passengers are from out of state: 57 percent last year, compared with 70 percent before Katrina. And those passengers are older and more affluent than the pre-Katrina passengers. About 54 percent of passengers had an income of $80,000 or more, compared with 35 percent before Katrina.

The survey involved interviewing about 1,200 passengers during four days in December at various times during the day. It was the third passenger survey in the past six years.

Among the other findings was that passengers rated their overall experience at the airport a 3.75 on a 5-point scale. They were most pleased with check-in, which garnered a 4 out of 5, and least pleased with food concessions, which received a 3.39 average on the survey. The most common complaint was that there isn't enough food variety.

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Jaquetta White can be reached at or (504) 826-3494.